Rule 39
by emmera01
Summary: "There is no such thing as coincidence." - What happens when a string of murders hit way too close to home and leaves the team in grave danger. Eventual TIVA.
1. Prologue

Hi this is the first fan fic I have written for NCIS. I have this big plan for a finale sort of case that should end up being fairly long and substantial. For now this is rated T but the rating may go up in later chapters. I plan to update his story quite regularly and already a few chapters ready to go. Please read and review.

At 9 pm on a cool, quiet evening in Washing DC a beautiful young woman stepped out of the service entrance of the Mayflower Hotel and gathered her modest brown coat tighter around her maid uniform to shield herself from the cold. Her low black heels clicked loudly against the asphalt as she took a shortcut through the same alley she walked every night to get home to her small apartment where she lived alone. She might have been afraid were in not for the fact that she had taken this same path home for 3 years. Now she thought nothing of the shadowy corners of the alley and the oppressive brick walls surrounding her.

Her 14 hour shift had left her exhausted and following her familiar path as though on auto pilot. It was her exhaustion that also prevented her from noticing a large figure running up behind her and wrapping a strong forearm around her neck so tightly that it immediately cut off her windpipe. She did not even get the opportunity to voice a single scream as the strong arm gripped her tighter still. Her arms and legs flailed wildly trying to free herself of the death grip. She fought with a wild passion for a long while, scratching at the man who held her but he did not falter nor say a word. He merely held her fast like a statue even after her arms stilled and her body slumped he did not release the vice like hold on her throat until he was sure no breath passed her lips.


	2. Chapter 1

I was going to wait and space my chapters out a bit but I couldn't resist. I hope you enjoy and pretty please review...

As Tony and McGee stepped out of the elevator at 0730 sharp they were faced with a characteristically stoic Gibbs and a flustered Ziva carrying two large cases with NCIS stamped on the side.

"Gear Up." Gibbs grunted as Ziva roughly thrusted one of the large heavy forensic cases into Tony's arms and followed Gibbs through the still open elevator doors.

"I'll gas the truck, Boss." Tony gasped, suppressing a groan over the case that had all but winded him when Ziva threw it at him. He heaved the heavy case into the elevator after his aŷcrazy ninja coworker while a confused McGee followed.

"No need, DiNozzo." Gibbs said as the elevator doors closed and he punched the ground floor button. "Won't be needing it."

Fifteen minutes later the team found themselves at the fence line of the naval base surrounded by security and a line of crime scene tape. The victim was a young woman with curly dark hair and tanned skin. She was laying face down in a maids uniform just beside the fence which had a large whole cut into it. Gibbs and Ziva immediately began interviewing and taking statements from the security personnel while Tony started photographing the scene and McGee helped Ducky and Palmer drag the gurney over the uneven grass.

As Ducky arrived he immediately kneeled down beside the young woman's body."May I Tony?" Ducky asked to make sure that he had already photographed the body before moving it. "Sure Duck." He muttered from behind the long macro lens he held to his face as he photographed the large hole in the fence.

Ducky put his hands on the victim's shoulder and slowly rolled her stiff corpse over on to her back."Rigor has almost set," Ducky noted aloud, "I estimate she has been deceased 10 - 12 hours. Now my dear, what brought you knocking on our..."Ducky left his sentence unfinished and muttered a shocked, "Oh My..." which made the whole team turn around and give him questioning looks.

Tony was the first to see what Ducky had and as he looked at the victims face and noticed three things... One, she was beautiful, or at least she has been and secondly, she looked uncannily like a certain ex-Mossad agent turned partner. Finally, and perhaps most concerningly, she had a gold Star of David pendant around her severely bruised neck almost identical to Ziva's.

McGee, Gibbs and Ziva all arrived at the body at the same time and Gibbs was the only one who didn't show outward shock. But then again, he had a faultless poker face.

"Wow," McGee muttered, "She looks like Ziva."

"Thanks, McCaptain Obvious." Tony said rather harshly as he took in Ziva's shocked face.

"Don't worry, David. Your not the only pretty Jewish fish in the sea. It's probably just a coincidence." Tony said smoothly, trying to reassure Ziva, though of what he wasn't quite sure.

As Ziva stared down into the lifeless face that so closely mirrored her own Tony turned to face Gibbs and shot him a knowing look. They were both thinking the exact same thing...

Rule # 39: There is no such thing as coincidence.


	3. Chapter 2

Three chapters in 24 hours... I'm on a roll. This one is way longer so I hope you enjoy it. Please review, they really mean a lot to me.

The team finished their documenting of the crime scene in relative silence compared to the usual banter that went on. Everyone was still a little perturbed at the fact that the woman bore such a close resemblance to Ziva and was found in their own backyard.

When Tony inspected what the victim was wearing closer he voiced his theories to Gibbs.

"Hey Boss, I was thinking that this maid outfit is so conservative for one of those costumes. It's more likely a uniform."

Despite the tense atmosphere Ziva couldn't suppress an eye roll ant Tony's 'expertise' with adult costumes.

"And right here, there is a gold 'M' on her uniform. Name of a hotel or housekeeping company."

"It's an elaborate font," Ziva spoke up for the first time since discovering the victim. "It's probably an upmarket hotel."

Not even waiting for the direction from Gibbs McGee immediately snapped a photo of the monogram.

"I'll run it against the insignia of local hotels."

Gibbs merely nodded, dismissing McGee to do so immediately. He quickly scurried off in the direction of the office. The rest of the team continued packing up the crime scene and Ducky and Palmer wheeled the body in the direction of the morgue.

As Gibbs, Tony and Ziva were checking the exterior perimeter of the fence line for tire tracks or other evidence Gibbs phone rang at his belt and he answered with a gruff, "Gibbs".

"That was fast McGee." Gibbs said after a short while. "Get whatever security footage you can for that area from the base security."

Gibbs shut his phone and turned to Ziva and Tony.

"We're done here. McGee matched the insignia to the Mayflower Hotel. Go see if they are missing a maid."

"On it," Tony said as Ziva merely nodded and set off toward the parking lot.  
After about 5 minutes of driving towards the Mayflower, Tony finally found the courage to break the awkward silence.

"You okay?" he asked softly.

"Of course I am Tony," she replied curtly in that clipped tone she used when she was trying to hide her true emotions. "A victim looks a little like me, statistically it was bound to happen. Just like a killer once looked a little like you."

"Right," Tony agreed without truly agreeing, "It happens. Just a coincidence."

It was the second time he had used those words in the last hour but he did not believe them. After all... There is no such thing as conincidence. They spend the rest of the drive in silence and finally pulled over in front of the main entrance.  
They climbed out of the car and walked into the foyer across the shiny marble floor that practically glowed. They were greeted by a stereotypically perky and particularly pretty young concierge with a platinum blonde bun and megawatt smile. Her name badge read "Candice".

"Good Morning. Welcome to the Mayflower Renaissance Hotel. Do you have a reservation?" she spoke with the surety and melody of a well rehearsed speech.

"No reservation, Candice," Tony replied with similar smile and flash of his badge. "My name is Special Agent Tony DiNozzo and this is Special Agent Ziva David from NCIS. We would like to talk to the supervisor of the cleaning crew."

The concierge shot him a confused look before quickly hiding it behind a mask a perky professionalism."Sure, one moment please."

She picked up the phone and dialled a line extension and after waiting for a few seconds spoke.

"Hello, this is Candice from concierge. I have two federal agents here who want to speak to the cleaning crew supervisor... Thank you."

Candice hung up the phone and turned back to Tony and Ziva.

"Someone is heading up to speak to speak to you now. They won't be long."

After about five minutes waiting silently in the large, gleaming foyer a man in a suit bearing the same 'M' insignia they had found on their victim's uniform strode over to them. He had an annoyed look on his face as though their visit inconvenienced him greatly.

"This should be fun," Tony muttered quietly to Ziva as they both stepped forward to meet him.

The second the man saw Ziva he suddenly looked a whole lot more interested in co-operating with investigations and Tony rolled his eyes and eyed him suspiciously.

When he spoke he only addressed Ziva which annoyed Tony greatly because it was obvious that she was still a little shaken by the events of this morning and not in the mood to deal with a slimy schmuck like this guy.

"Good morning, my name is Frank, Cheif of Staff. I understand you have some questions for me Agent...?" Frank trailed of with a sleazy and almost hungry look in his eye, clearly fishing for Ziva's name. He didn't even acknowledge Tony which made him wish that Ziva wasn't feeling so off so that she might just go ninja assassin on his sleazy ass.

"Special Agent Ziva David and this is my partner, Special Agent Tony DiNozzo." Ziva replied in a monotone, not responding to the man's overtures.

Sensing the awkwardness Tony took over to rescue his partner. "We are here because we have a murder victim who we think was wearing a maids uniform from this hotel." Tony said, holding a headshot of the victim they had discovered that morning.

Frank took the picture and looked it quickly before renewing his efforts to engage Ziva. "She's very beautiful... A lot like you, Agent David."

Tony growled softly and ground his teeth together. this guy was really getting on his nerves.

"Hey! Focus!" Tony snapped at Frank, "That young woman was murdered. Do you recognise her?"

Frank rolled his eyes, obviously wishing Tony would disappear. "Yeah, I uh... I think her name was Torres. Mary or Margaret or something. She is one of our maids. Come with me to my office, I'll pull her file."

Frank beckoned rudely to Tony and tried to spark up yet another conversation with Ziva."So Agent David, that is an interesting accent you have. Where are you from?"

"Israel," Ziva answered unenthusiastically. This guy just couldn't take a hint.

"That's very interesting. I have never been there myself." Frank harped on even though Ziva was barely interested. "Do you have family there?"

Tony barely hid a smirk as Ziva gave an exasperated sigh. He knew that sigh. It was the warning that Ziva was about to punch you in the throat and that it was time to back off. Frank the sleaze didn't know that of course so he pressed on like the fool he was.

"You know Ziva, I'd love to discuss your travels over dinner..."

"Enough!" Ziva snapped at him stopping abruptly to stare him down. Taking a deep breath to prepare for a tirade. Tony couldn't help but be a little disappointed because Ziva kicking this guys ass would be much more entertaining but beggars couldn't be choosers.

"I am not remotely interested in have dinner with you. I am here to find the identity of a young woman who was viciously murdered and you should have the common decency and respect to do all you can to help us, instead of trying to get in my pants!"

Tony looked at Ziva with an expression of awe while Frank simply blushed red and looked at his ugly over polished shoes.

"Yes ma'am... I... I'm very sorry." Frank stuttered, suddenly loosing all his over confident arrogance. "This way, Agents."

Tony couldn't help but smirk again as the man finally acknowledged his presence. If anyone had the ability to strip a man down and make him feel 2 inches tall, it was Ziva David. She was fierce and it was a big part of what made her some damn sexy.

Tony and Ziva followed Frank to his office in complete silence and as they walked through the door with a ingraved plaque that read "Frank O'Leary: Chief of Staff" Frank nervously asked them to "Please, sit down."

He immediately began rifling through a filing cabinet and extracted a thin yellow manilla folder.

"My mistake, the young woman's name was Mrs Mariana Torres." Frank said as he passed the folder to Tony, still startled to address Ziva directly. Tony immediately opened the folder and confirmed the identification of their victim by the personnel photo. "She has been here just over 3 years. I'm quite sure she was close to another maid here, Ms Lana Ellis. I can ask her to come here immediately. You may use my office to interview her if you like."

"That would me most helpful, thank you." Tony returned with an over the top, clearly faked smile.

"I'll find her immediately. If you wait here, I will send her to you." Frank said, not even waiting for an answer before flying out of the office, leaving Ziva and Tony alone.

Tony turned to his partner who's steely gaze was fixed at the wall directly across from her."You okay, Ziva?"

"I am fine, Tony." She said sharply. "It is not the first time I have been harassed by a... Argh what is the word? It begins with an s."

"Sleaze, slimeball, schmuck, slimy git, so-not-even-in-your-league..." Tony rattled off, trying to lighten the mood.

Despite Ziva's annoyance and terrible day she could not help but giggle to herself.

"He really was all those things, wasn't he?" Ziva asked with the first smile Tony had seen on her face all day.

"He definitely was," Tony chuckled. Once their smiles had faded he reached across and placed his hand on Ziva's.

"You sure you are okay?" Tony asked again softly, this time not just referring to Frank the sleaze/slimeball.

"It has been a trying day Tony, but I will be fine." she answered, her foul mood almost completely evaporated. Tony was the only one who could turn her day around with a single joke.

"Yeah, I know and I think I owe you a drink at the end of it."

"Or two." Ziva suggested with a mischievous smirk, almost forgetting her terrible morning.

After waiting another five minutes in companionable silence Ziva and Tony heard a soft knock on the door. Tony got up and opened the door to see a petite woman with tight brown curls and a maids uniform identical to the one their victim had been wearing.

"Ms Ellis?" Tony asked as he stepped aside, inviting here in. "Please, take a seat."

The woman quietly sat down and shot a quizzical look at Tony and Ziva.

"Ms Ellis, we understand you know Ms Mariana Torres?" Ziva asked in a friendly tone, trying to put the woman at ease.

"Yes, we are close friends and please call me Lana." The girl replied timidly.

"Lana, my name is Ziva and this is Tony. We are NCIS federal agents."

Lana's eyes widened slightly when Ziva declared them as federal agents.

"Is Mariana alright? She didn't come into work today. I was going to stop by her apartment as soon as I finished my shift to check on her."

Tony took over from Ziva. She'd had a bad enough day without having to tell this woman her closest friend was dead.

"I'm very sorry Lana," Tony spoke softly, trying to soften the blow, "But Mariana was found early this morning. She is dead, Lana"

Lana drew in a loud gasp and her eyes immediately began to water.

"Mariana?" She whispered more to herself than anyone else. "If you are here it means she was murdered doesn't it?" Lana asked with a sob.

"I'm afraid so," Ziva said sympathetically, "We are both very sorry for your loss, Lana. We understand if you need a moment but we do have to ask you a few questions."

Tony searched around the office and spotted a tissue box and quickly went to get them and offered the box to Lana.

"Thank you," she said with a teary smile that did not reach her eyes. "No, I'm okay. I want to help you. Help Mariana."

"I understand," Ziva said with such emotion that Tony swore he would Gibbs-slap the next person who accused Ziva of being cold and unfeeling. "We noticed in Mariana's file that she was married. Do you know her husband?"

Lana nodded, blotting her eyes with a tissue. "I mean I did. Carlos died over a year ago. He and Mariana immigrated here from Chile three and a half years ago. They never had any children. Mariana has been on her own for a while."

"Do you know what time she left work last night?" Tony asked.

"Yes," Lana answered, "We left at about the same time. At about nine o'clock. We both live nearby so we walk home."

Tony nodded and consulted the personnel file. "North West 13th Street?" Tony asked.

"Yes. I know it seems dangerous but neither of us can afford a car so we don't really have a choice."

"I understand Lana. Now I know this is a difficult question but can you think of anyone who might want to hurt Mariana?" Ziva asked, shifting closer to Lana in the hopes to comfort her at least slightly.

Another tear trickled down Lana's cheek as she shook her head.

"No, no one." She said, her voice cracking. "She was a lovely person and she kept to herself. I don't think she really spoke to anyone apart from me and a couple other women that work here. It just doesn't make any sense."

Lana sobbed and hugged her arms tight to her body. Ziva placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"They rarely do." Tony said, knowing it was of little comfort.

"You said you live near by. Will you let us drive you home?" Tony asked, taking pity on the young woman.

"I can't. My boss, he doesn't like it when we try to get time off." Lana said through sobs and gasps. It was clear that she was in no condition to be at work.

"You let me take care of that." Ziva said with a sad smile. "Is there anyone you can call to keep you company at home?"

Lana nodded slightly. "My husband."

"Okay well you go give him a call and get your things. Meet us in the foyer and we will take you home okay?" Tony spoke to her in a soft tone, trying to calm her sobs.

"Oh, one last question Lana." Tony said and Lana stopped and turned to face him."I know that Mariana is a catholic name but did Mariana ever wear a Star of David necklace to your knowledge?"

Lana gave Tony a teary, quizzical look.

"As in the Jewish Star of David?" she asked and Tony nodded in response.

"No never. She was a devout catholic. She went to mass every Sunday she wasn't rostered on to work."

Tony and Ziva exchanged a concerned look. Yet another part of this case that didn't add up.

"Thank you Lana, we will wait for you in the foyer." Tony said and Lana hurried off to the staff room to collect her things.

After the woman left Ziva smiled at Tony. "That was nice of you Tony, offering to drive her home."

Tony shrugged it off. "We were leaving anyway and it isn't out of our way. I'm not going to let her walk home in that condition."

Ziva simply nodded and grabbed a piece of paper writing out the message, "Ms Ellis has accompanied us to NCIS to assist with investigations and will be occupied for the rest of the day. If you have any problems please contact Special Agent Ziva David directly." She then taped it to his computer screen where Frank could not miss it. Tony held back a smile as he read it. Frank would not dare question Ziva at the risk of being cut down to size all over again.

Ziva took one final look at the note, nodded to herself and walked out of the office.

"Are you coming, Tony?" She said over her shoulder and Tony ran after his partner, "On your six, Zee-vah!"


	4. Chapter 3

The response I have gotten for the first few chapters has been awesome. Please keep reading and reviewing. I hope you like the next chapter.

"What do you have for me, Duck?" Gibbs asked as he strode into autopsy.

"Ah, Jethro," Ducky looked up from the lifeless body on his table, "Though I hate to say it and it's too early to tell definitively, this looks like a quite straightforward one. The killer came up behind the young woman, wrapped his arm around her neck and asphyxiated the poor dear." Ducky's explanation was complete with a rather over-active recreation of events with his own arms and an invisible victim.

"Note the bruising around her neck, but there is one thing that does not add up," Ducky said with a frown. "If she had been wearing the Star of David necklace when she was killed it would have dug into her skin and resulted in scratching and clear imprints. As you can see there is nothing."

Gibbs came closer, inspecting the young woman's neck for any scratching or imprints but saw only bruising. "She wasn't wearing it when she was killed. The killer put it on her before dumping the body." Gibbs surmised.

"Yes, I'm sure of it." Ducky answered and the frown that had been present since he turned the victims body over and spotted her face deepened. "Between this and the young woman's uncanny resemblance to Ziva, you don't think..."

"I don't know what to think, Duck." Gibbs cut Ducky off even though it was not the truth. He already had many theories, none of them good. Ducky merely nodded and returned to his work.

"Let me know if you get anything else." Gibbs said as he walked out of autopsy and pulled his ringing phone off his belt.

"Yeah, DiNozzo?"

After Ziva and Tony had dropped Lana home and updated Gibbs, they headed to the victim's apartment. They found the building supervisor, a harsh looking older woman named Janice. They had to show her the warrant five times before she would open the door to Mariana's apartment and was shocked to hear that she was dead.

"She was so quiet, I don't think I've seen her have a single other person here in over a year. Not since her husband died." Janice said as she unlocked the door and stepped aside to let Tony and Ziva in. "Lock up when your done." She said and waddled down the hall back to her own apartment.

Ziva immediately began looking around. "No coat or handbag on the hooks by the door," Ziva noted. "She probably never made it home."

Tony had though that might have been the case but now they were almost sure they would have to spend hours carefully retracing Mariana's route home and canvassing the area for any witnesses. It was going to be a long day.

Ziva came to a halt in front of a classical portrait of the Virgin Mary, or rather a cheap but well loved reproduction. "Further proof that she was not Jewish." Ziva said in a faraway voice, mostly to herself. She then turned to look at Tony with a desperate questioning look in her eye that Tony had never seen before.

"They why was she wearing a necklace like mine? And why does she look like me? Why was she dumped just inside the fence line at the Naval Base even though she has no connection to any of the armed forces, let alone the Navy." Ziva questioned breathlessly, getting more and more agitated.

"We will figure it out, Ziva." Tony said, trying to calm his partner who usually had nerves of steel.

"That is what I am afraid of," Ziva said ominously. "This has all the markings of a serial killer with some sort of connection with me. I'm just waiting for another body to fall."

"Drop." Tony corrected her, mostly because he didn't know what else to say.

Tony tried his best to hide his concerned expression and went back to searching the apartment and Ziva eventually joined him. After spending an hour looking through every drawer, closet and box in the apartment they came to same conclusion as they had during the interview with Lana. Mariana was a good catholic girl who lived a modest and quiet life since her husband had died. There was no conceivable reason for someone to brutally attack and kill her.

"Come on, Ziva. There's nothing here." Tony said, the first words since their sinister conversation. "You up for a walk?"

"Yeah."she mumbled to herself. Putting the lid back on the shoebox she was searching and sliding it back under the bed.

They both exited the apartment, locking it behind them. Leaving their car where it was parked they began walking down the alley beside the apartment building, following the path Lana had told them Mariana took every night.

After spending an hour and a half in the squad room, sitting at his desk with no leads to chase and a gradually worsening mood Gibbs got up and went down to see Abby. He breezed passed McGee who didn't even notice Gibbs leaving, too absorbed in all the searches and algorithms he was running, trying to find a lead.

"What've you got, Abs?" Gibbs said.

"Gibbs!" Abby said jumping up from her microscope. "Your radar must be off. I only just got the necklace. I mean I'm good but I'm not a miracle worker."

"All evidence to the contrary, Abs." Gibbs said with a smile.

"Well there is something I can tell you. Ducky was right." Abby said and turned to her computer and brought up the microscope projection on her monitor. "This wasn't her necklace. I mean it's brand new, Gibbs."

Abby pointed to the screen. "There is no natural oil build-up on the chain or pendant that any jewellery worn for longer than a few hours would have. There is basically no skin cells on it either. This was not her necklace and she definitely was not wearing it when she was killed."

"I can also tell you though that it is good quality. It isn't some mass produced piece. I'm thinking hand crafted by a jeweller. I'll have McGee send a photo to all the jewellers in the area to see if they recognise it but don't hold your breath. It could be from anywhere." Abby finished with a frown.

"See, Abs," Gibbs said giving her a kiss on the cheek, "Miracle worker."

"Yeah well this miracle worker expects payment in Caf-Pow!" Abby shouted to Gibbs jokingly.

Gibbs merely laughed as he walked out of Abby's labs to chase up all the jewellers in the DC area.

After he and McGee spend the whole afternoon calling every jeweller in the phonebook and coming up with nothing, Gibb's mood had deteriorated further. They had almost exhausted all their leads and things were looking bleak. It didn't help matters when Ziva and Tony returned to report that they too had come up empty. Even after searching the victim's apartment and retracing her route home from work twice they still did not have a single witness or any idea where Mariana had been attacked.

When 6pm rolled around and the NCIS headquarters began to resemble a ghost town Gibbs interrupted the frustrated silence.

"Everyone go home," Gibbs ordered with a sigh. "Well pick this up in the morning."

Tony, McGee and Ziva all immediately began turning of their computers and grabbing their stuff with a relieved sigh.

They all filed into the elevator while Gibbs stayed behind to read over files one more time.

When the elevator got to the ground floor McGee didn't get off, mumbling something about going to see if Abby was still in her lab so they said their goodbyes and Tony and Ziva set off towards the parking lot.

"You know what, Tony." Ziva asked as she reached her small red Mini Cooper which was parked beside Tony's '67 Camaro that he had bought to replace his equally ostentatious Mustang.

"I could really use that drink you owe me." Ziva said with a tired smile.

"Well lucky for you my fridge is fully stocked." Tony said, returning her smile. "I even have some of that imported crap you love."

"I'll get the pizza and meet you at your place." Ziva said as she got in her tiny car. Tony watched as she reversed out of her spot at breakneck speed and sped off. Tony chuckled to himself and shook his head as he got into his own car grateful as always that he didn't carpool with Ziva.

I am trying to decide if I am going to make this a pure case based story or if I want to focus more on TIVA. I'm leaning towards the latter because I love TIVA! Also this case really lends itself to bringing Tony and Ziva closer together. What do you guys think? I aim to please.


End file.
